AVONDALE, Ariz. — As Carl Edwards’ car went through postrace inspection following his win Sunday, Bob Osborne stood near a toolbox and watched happily in the Phoenix International Raceway garage.

This was a good day for Edwards’ former crew chief, who stepped aside amid a disappointing season last July and has had to hear people wonder if he was really sick or if he was just dismissed last year because of Edwards’ struggles on the track.

“It is exceptional on many, many levels to have them back in victory lane,” Osborne said.

“The 99, for me personally, the car number with Carl in victory lane means a lot to me and Ford in general. … I can’t ask for anything more.”

The last 12 months haven’t been easy for Osborne, an engineer and fierce competitor who handled himself with grace when Edwards lost the 2011 Cup championship on a tiebreaker.

Osborne and Edwards planned to pick up right where they left off but never seemed to be in sync in 2012. With Edwards winless and 11th in the standings after 19 races, the team announced that Osborne had resigned as crew chief because of health reasons.

Edwards never gained any traction with new crew chief Chad Norris in 2012 and Osborne was home with an undisclosed illness. Osborne missed a few months before returning to the track near the end of last year in his new role.

The 39-year-old Osborne now leads a team of Roush Fenway Racing engineers to create parts and pieces to be used five or six weeks down the road.

Edwards started this year with a new crew chief in veteran Jimmy Fennig and Fennig’s crew that won three races with Matt Kenseth last year.

“We struggled a lot last year, everybody knows that,” Osborne said. “It was a painful season for all of us. Regardless of what happened to me and my health, it was still not a good season for us.

“It makes me proud and happy to see the performance come right back with a fresh start and a new season and a lot of new faces involved with Carl’s career.”

As private as he is competitive, Osborne won’t talk about his health issues — “it’s not that important,” he said — but bristles at talk that his departure as Edwards' crew chief wasn’t based on his health.

“I’ve heard that a lot of people don’t believe the health issue,” Osborne said. “But I tell you what, they can wear my shoes and see if they can handle it — and we’ll see if they ask themselves if it’s a health issue or not.

“There is a health issue, and it’s something that I’m working through.”

Osborne said he is feeling better.

“I’m definitely going in the right direction,” Osborne said. “I still have a little ways to go. But let’s just say my doctor is very happy.”

Edwards has said often that he values Osborne’s contribution to the team and feels as if he has another crew chief working for him back at the shop and on race weekends.

“Bob is still here at the racetrack,” Edwards said. “He's in all the meetings. He doesn't seem as stressed out.

“He's a little easier to get along with, which is nice. I think Bob and I are going to be better friends now than we were before.”

Osborne said he is happy with his current role.

“It’s what I need right now, how about that?” Osborne said. “My background is engineering and I get to focus 100 percent of my time on engineering projects and using my better skills to improve the performance of the company in general.

“It means a lot to me that Jack gave me the opportunity to do that.”

That’s not to say that Osborne wants to be a man behind the scenes the rest of his career. He plans to be back atop a pit box calling the shots for a driver.

He has won 18 Cup races as a crew chief and intends to win more.

“We’ll see what happens in the future,” Osborne said. “Once I have had some time off and if I start getting bored, I’ll look for something else.

“I intend to (be a crew chief again) at some point. That’s down the road.”

Osborne said while he is getting better, he doesn’t feel that now is the right time for him to get atop the pit box.

“Could I come back and be a crew chief right now today?” Osborne said. “Yes, I could but it wouldn’t be in the best interest of my health at this point.

“Do I want to do that? No. I want to get back to where I was health-wise a year or so ago and then we’ll sit down and consider what direction we go in.”

When he does become a crew chief again, Osborne won’t be doing it to prove a point. He won’t be doing it to show people that he can still win Cup races.

He knows he can win. He knows what he can contribute. He knows that Edwards had good seasons and bad seasons before his health issue.

“As far as needing vindication, I don’t,” Osborne said. “I’ve always come to the racetrack trying to do the absolute best that I possibly could.”

So now he comes to the racetrack looking for ways to make the cars better in the weeks to come. That effort will give him satisfaction on days such as Sunday.

“For our company, with all the doubts that we’ve had and all the speculation about the new car for us, it’s a big relief and I’m very happy that the 99 was able to do it this weekend,” he said.